


Rooted Into His Heart

by Snoezibol



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Drama lmao, Fights, Hurt/Comfort, I Tried, M/M, This one's just hot garbage, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 09:18:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16595144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snoezibol/pseuds/Snoezibol
Summary: After Scout yet again accuses Sniper of cheating, the marksman has had enough.





	1. The Words You Said

Sniper felt like a right idiot. Basically dragging himself back to the camper at the unholy hour of eleven pm, the marksman was mentally kicking himself for that day. It had been time for that months medical check up, for two hours every thirty days they were all tied to an appointment with the doctor to make sure everything was still okay. It was all a waste of time anyway, those were yet again two hours of his life he'd never get back and besides, it made him feel like a lab rat and it wasn't a feeling he liked walking around with.

 

 

But that wasn't the problem right now, the _problem_ was that Sniper had gone to the German's lab together with Scout as one of the first that _morning_ to have their appointment. The runner had gone first, but instead of just following after his boyfriend Sniper had told Soldier to go before him because Soldier had been waiting longer than Sniper had and it only seemed fair. What were two hours on an entire day anyway, right? Well a whole lot considering that, to the marksman's wonderful _delight_ , during the time Soldier had his turn he had fallen asleep like a bloody rock and instead of having any of his teammates wake him up, they decided to take advantage of the situation and be _rats_ by constantly stealing Sniper's turn because he was off to dream world anyway.

 

 

And now he was walking back, hands buried deep into his pockets and a tired look resting on his face. He still couldn't believe he slept all throughout the day, his back sure felt it though because sleeping sitting upright on a chair wasn't exactly top notch. Yawning agonizingly long, Sniper briefly wondered how any of this could be possible. How could he be this tired? He had slept normal the night before hadn't he? Well... maybe not exactly, but hey! You try to sleep when the most energetic person in the whole entire world decides to tell you all about which tools he likes using the most for drawing when you've already seen three in the morning pass.

 

 

Truthfully he didn't mind Scout keeping him up _just_ to talk, he loved hearing his voice and usually it would drag him right under anyway, but for whatever reason it was different yesterday. Maybe it was because he had felt overall restless, maybe that last cup of coffee hadn't been his brightest idea ever, whatever it was it was unbelievably regrettable because now he looked like a damn fool. Honestly, all he wanted right now was to get to his RV, watch some TV with Scout and fall asleep on the couch with that little gremlin curled up against him. Perhaps there was a way to save this day after all.

 

 

Opening the camper door, Sniper rubbed his face as he walked inside. Getting coffee was one of  the first things to cross his mind, just to get rid of the drowsy feeling, but giving that another thought the marksman was quick to decide that that wasn't a good idea at all. He still walked up to the kitchen counter, getting rid of his hat and glasses when he suddenly noticed that Scout hadn't said a word yet. Usually the kid was all about jumping up the second he saw Sniper and now not even a kick had been given. Maybe he had fallen asleep? The marksman turned his head towards his coach only to find the runner staring at the TV with no interest at all. Okay scratch that, Scout was still very much awake and clearly too uncaring about whatever was playing on the TV to be unaware of Sniper walking in there. This was particular, uncharacteristic really, but Sniper decided to wait and see, maybe Scout just _really_ hadn't noticed him.

 

 

"Hi Scout, 'm sorry 'm so late."

 

 

"Yeah." Stop. Stop whatever you're doing, this was a red light, something was most definitely up. Scout's voice was an unconvinced murmur laced with a thick layer of disbelief and annoyance. He wasn't happy and even though Sniper had been in situations like this before, he always failed on recognizing the problem in the beginning.

 

 

Sighing deeply when he noticed how Scout wasn't making a move on telling him what was wrong, the marksman meekly tried again. He didn't want to make anything worse, let alone accidentally wound Scout's pride or something. This had to be taken care of with velvet gloves and tons of patience.

 

 

"Wot's wrong?"

 

 

"Nothin'." The runner's gaze didn't move an inch. Suddenly it seemed as if whatever was playing on the TV was a whole lot more interesting to Scout.

 

 

"Scout it ain't no use lyin', it's clear that somethin' is up."

 

 

"Hmm." Sniper didn't know what to do. Usually Scout was a whole lot faster in explaining from a to z what exactly was wrong and who had done something to upset him. Well it was clear that Scout's vexation was from something Sniper had done, considering he was getting this "I don't care, leave me alone" treatment, but the marksman had honestly _no_ idea what could have agitated him.

 

 

"Scout?" The marksman hopelessly tried again, this time walking in front of the TV to make sure every bit of Scout's attention couldn't be on anything else except him. "Wot's up?"

 

 

The runner adjusted his position, taking a teasingly long time with every movement he made. Turning off the TV lasted literal _minutes_ and even when that was done, Scout's non - verbal torture wasn't exactly over yet. The silence felt like a merciless hammer, crushing Sniper from top to bottom. He hadn't seen Scout this mad since Spy had discovered his sketchbook and proceeded to mock him about it too.

 

 

Eventually Scout drew his gaze up to meet Sniper's worried one, though the way his brow was frowned and his mouth was an obvious pout wasn't exactly helping settling the marksman's frazzled nerves. What happened today that could have possible made him _this_ angry?

 

 

"Where the hell were you today?" _Ooh_ , now he understood. Sniper didn't really know why he hadn't considered that as an option yet, but then again... was Scout really this irked about  not seeing Sniper? Maybe it was Scout not knowing how to deal with worry and choosing the easy way out by being annoyed.

 

 

"At Medic's, I fell asleep a few hours ago that's why 'm this late." Scout scoffed, rolling his eyes as he leaned back onto the couch. The kid was being unnecessarily defensive, by all means Sniper _had_ told him the truth. "Wot's so funny about that?"

 

 

"Oh no nothin', it's just that that must be the worst excuse you've come up with so far."

 

 

"Excuse me?" Hearing the disbelieve in Sniper's voice only seemed to spur Scout's irritation on as he jumped up from the couch with his arms crossed over his chest and a look that warned not to screw with him. But no matter how well Scout showed off his anger, it was no use if Sniper still didn't know what the hell he was on about.

 

 

"Don't play dumb with me! I know people might argue 'bout it, but I ain't a freakin' idiot! We went to Medic's lab _this mornin'_ , it's a quarter past eleven, what the hell took you so long?!"  

 

 

"I told ya I fell asleep."

 

 

"Oh please! For an entire day?!" Sniper had to admit that it sounded hard to believe, but it was the truth. Curse his ability to basically sleep everywhere and in the most inhuman positions, it was unexpectedly back firing now and felt as if a good friend had betrayed him. It was unfair, how was he ever going to convince Scout? The runner could be so unbelievably hard-headed when it came to things like this.

 

 

"Yes for an entire bloody day, wot else do ya think I've been doin'?"  

 

 

"Oh I dunno..." Scout's gaze yet again moved away from Sniper as he nervously tipped his foot and visibly chewed the inside of his cheek. "You've been gone for hours, time 'nough to spend with Medic I guess."  

 

 

"Wot is that supposed to mean?" Suddenly Scout wasn't the only person to be annoyed, Sniper had this nasty feeling, a speculation on where this was going and he wasn't liking it one bit. He felt attacked while in reality he hadn't done anything wrong. "Don't tell me.. do ya actually? For real?" Scout didn't say a thing, the only gesture that could be considered a response was him barely cocking up his eyebrow and sighing rather deeply afterwards.

 

 

"Just freakin' admit ya slept with Medic!" He blurted out and right when Sniper started to believe that this was an actual joke, the serious expression plastered on his face was telling the exact opposite of that. Scout was quite serious and that honestly only made things worse. The sad thing, however, was that this wasn't the first time Scout accused him of sleeping with someone else. First it had been Spy, then Demo and now Medic, honestly Sniper had enough of being labelled as this bad guy he really _isn't_.

 

 

"Did ya hit your bloody head whoile I was gone?!" Sniper was exasperated, he refused to believe what he was hearing. "God damn it, whenever we have a foight about somethin' you come up with some unbelievable story of me sleepin' with someone else! Wot kind of animal do ya think I am?!"

 

 

"Well maybe try to find better lies, mister "I fell asleep for an entire day" yeah as if."

 

 

"I _did_ fall asleep!"

 

 

"Oh c'mon! Who is _that_ tired?" Sniper clenched his jaw tightly in annoyance, he could feel the patience he had summoned for this slip away. Usually that would be the least of his problems, but after three times of being called a cheater even the most polite person ever has their breaking point.

 

 

"Maybe I wouldn't have been so toired if it wasn't for _someone_ keepin' me up until four in the bloody mornin'!" Scout quickly shut his mouth close as if someone had slapped him in it, his eyes growing a bit bigger yet his brow was still frowned rather heavily. Given his reaction, Sniper believed he had struck a nerve there as if he was only two strikes away from being out.

 

 

"D-don't try to put the blame on me, man! I didn't freakin' sleep with anyone else!"

 

 

"Neither did I! This is the _third_ bloody person ya accuse me of sleepin' with whoile in fact the _only_ person 've ever slept with here is you and ya know why? Because you are my bloody boyfriend and I have enough decency to know never to cheat on someone!" Sniper was really getting angry now too, he was sick and tired of defending a useless case. When was Scout going to believe his innocence, the kid couldn't keep this up forever right?

 

 

"Then why did it take so long?! Ya really think 'm that stupid? That I'd believe whatever lie you'd come up with?! 'I fell asleep' oh _please_ I invented better lies than that when I was seven!" That was the last straw, Sniper had no idea what else he had to tell Scout for him to believe his accusations were beyond idiotic, but frankly he didn't care anymore. This had been the droplet that breaks the bucket.

 

 

"For fuck sake! 've had it up to _here_ with your bloody trust issues! It ain't 'cause your father ran out on ya that it means everyone ya ever meet in your loife lies to ya! We've been together for half a year now, when are ya gonna drop this rubbish?!" The silence that followed that outburst was more relentless than the marksman had expected. At first he didn't notice, but then it was allowing for way too much time to rethink his words and seeing Scout's expression change from angry to grievously hurt  only helped him with realising how unfairly harsh he had been. He hadn't meant it like that, never were his intensions set on hurting him. "Scout, I.."

 

 

"No, no, you're right." Scout said as he took a step back, his eyes as wide as dinner plates now. "'m bein' dumb, overreactin' an' stuff, I know."

 

 

"No, Scout.. that's not wot I meant, I-"

 

 

"No I get it, Sniper." Hearing Scout ever so bitterly speaking his normal name and not that charming variant he always used felt like a sharp sting right through his heart. This is not what he wanted, hurting Scout had never been the purpose of this. He felt like a right dick to hurt the one person he cared so much about. "I get it..." Scout continued, his blue eyes glazed over with what Sniper suspected to be upcoming tears. "guess 'm just a freakin' bother to you!"

 

 

"Don't act so bloody foolish, that's not wot I meant!" Sniper tried to reason as he watched Scout making a power walk for the door, but as he saw the runner's expression Sniper thanked his lucky stars looks couldn't kill, else he'd already be six feet under by now.

 

 

"You're a fuckin' asshole." Scout's voice was surprisingly quiet, he was probably sporting an attempt at suppressing his emotions, Sniper could imagine that the last thing he wanted to do right now was cry in front of the person who had upset him enough to put him in a situation like that.

 

 

Sniper yet again tried to convince him about his intentions there, but before he could say anything Scout silenced him by a simple hand gesture.

 

 

"I honestly don't wanne freakin' see you right now. Leave me the fuck alone, alright?" And before the marksman could remotely agree to that, Scout was gone.

 

 

Regret was too feeble of a word to describe Sniper's opinion about all this. Of course they've had fights before, but usually either of the two would come to the realisation that what they were saying was rubbish and apologize for acting that way. This was different, however, Scout had actually ran off somewhere and that not without warning Sniper first to leave him alone. The things he had said were seriously out of line though, Scout didn't deserve to have something like that thrown into his face. The more Sniper thought about it, the more he realised how wrong he was.

 

 

Scout was right, he _was_ a big fucking asshole.

 

\--


	2. Your Idiot

Sniper knew he couldn't just leave it like this. Guilt was already nestling as a cold feeling in his gut and he absolutely hated it. Slamming doors and horribly false accusations are hardly a way to keep a relationship going and if it were up to the marksman, he wasn't quite set on throwing this away. He wanted to apologize, tell Scout how stupid he'd been for saying that and making the runner remotely feel like he was too much or a nuisance. Of course he wasn't, but that's not exactly the message Scout had gotten from their previous conversation. Sniper wanted to be _the_ person with whom Scout could be himself, where the runner felt save and loved, but as Sniper stared down the door Scout had thrown shut he realised that that entire purpose had crumbled.

 

 

It was a shit show and it was time for it to end already. Sniper didn't like lose ends or conversations that were clearly unfinished. He wanted to talk this out, sit Scout down and _finally_ ask him about this whole ordeal. Not just about this foolish twit, but about every time he'd falsely accused Sniper of cheating. He wanted Scout to trust him, or at least wanted to know why he couldn't. Trust issues can root deeply within a person and he didn't want it to restrict the runner's heart. He cared too much about him to let that happen, cared too much about their relationship to let it die on some badly misplaced words.

 

 

Sniper knew he couldn't just leave it like this, so he wasn't going to.

 

 

There were few places where the marksman knew Scout would go to if things felt like they were crashing down on him. Either he'd lock himself up in his room, go to Sniper's camper _or_ he hid himself away somewhere within the battlefield, most likely Sniper's nest.

 

 

And Sniper thought to have figured out where exactly he would be when his RV was the place he'd ran from and it was already nearing midnight, and Scout being dressed the way he was, he wouldn't possibly think of going to the battlefield, right? Well, as Sniper walked right into an empty room after his knocks were left unanswered and a sleepy Demo commented about not having seen Scout since dinner, the marksman was being told otherwise than what he'd been hoping.

 

 

The thought of Scout being all on his own in a dark deserted battlefield while feeling miserable about the things his _lover_ had said to him really sparked a fire to light under Sniper's ass. There he'd be, half freezing to death while probably hating every bit about himself. _Oh God_ , the mental picture was horrible, that alone enough to speed the marksman up as he first stopped at his RV to grab a blanket and then made a beeline for the battlefield, straight to his nest.

 

 

He clenched and unclenched his jaw, fists doing the exact same in the fabric of the blanket as he walked the empty field. Such an eerie place, surely at night, yet somewhere beneath the sounds of wind blowing between creaking buildings and howling coyote's, there was a certain tranquillity. A calmness Scout couldn't quite manage to maintain in his head and perhaps that's why he came here of all places.  

 

 

The marksman was careful as he climbed the stairs towards his nest, minding every step he took until he reached the very top. He peered in the darkness, searching the outlines of the moonlight that pooled into the building for his target and eventually found him ducked away behind a crate. His knees were tucked against his body and his arms were wrapped around his legs, face pressed into his underarms. From where Sniper could see him, it was obvious that the runner was shivering and rather violently too, the sight alone already sparking more worry within the marksman. 

 

 

"I - I told ya to stay away.." It was nothing more than a murmur that died against the skin of his arm. A threat that sounded serious, even though it was completely hollow.

 

 

Sniper walked up to him, brow slightly furrowed with regret as he didn't dare to touch him, knowing Scout doesn't exactly appreciate that whenever he was mad, yet gently draped the blanket over Scout's shoulders so at least that problem would already be solved. "I know and 'm sorry, but you and I both know I can't really do that."

 

 

"I know..." Scout croaked softly as he finally lifted his head, grabbed the edge of the blanket and tightly wrapped it around himself. Sniper could hear the runner had been crying, because with every sniffle Scout failed to control, Sniper felt his heart break just a little more each time. "Did I worry ya..?"

 

 

"Just a little, love..." Sniper spoke as he very cautiously sat down next to Scout, still very much minding the distance. Even though the runner might not have sounded mad, it was still better to respect his personal space and keep all of this from getting any worse. "But, not only with runnin' away... also with wot ya told me."

 

 

In the corner of his eye he watched Scout yet again slightly curling in on himself, facing away as if he couldn't possibly look at the marksman even if it would have caused world peace. "'m sorry.." He muttered, voice yet again getting a bit thicker.

 

 

"Why?"

 

 

"I s-sounded totally insane... I _know_ what I was accusin' ya of was complete bullshit, yet - yet I still believed it somewhere... I always did.." He took a moment, deliberately breathing for a second as if he were trying to control himself, which didn't really work as his next words were accompanied by a muffled sob. "'m so so-sorry... _fuck_."

 

 

Finally Sniper wrapped a long arm around Scout's shoulders and tenderly pulled him a bit closer. "It's okay Scout. I should be the one apologizin' and I will 'cause wot I said to ya was the lowest thing I could have possibly done. 'm sorry, love, I really am. I promise I ain't fed up with ya nor do I think you're a bother to me. I was just.. mad for wot ya said to me, also 'cause it wasn't the first toime."

 

 

"It's so fuckin' ridiculous... _I'm_ so - so fuckin' ridiculous. Ma trust in ya is way bigger than whatever idiotic things I tell myself sometimes, but... I dunno... somehow somethin' manages to screw that up an' then I get so fuckin' insecure..." He sighed out, finally shifting his position and now pressed his tear soaked face into Sniper's shoulder rather than his own arm. "I understand that ya were angry with me, Snipes. It's frustratin' to be accused o' somethin' ya didn't do, surely when the other party just doesn't let it fuckin' go. I was so fuckin' _unreasonable_." He grumbled half of an angry explicit to himself, before silencing for a single moment. "Ya might not think 'm a bother or you're just bein' nice, but it can't be easy bein' together with someone like.. like _this_. I don't want ya to have this feelin' that ya constantly have to walk on eggshells with me, I'd fuckin' hate myself if ya did."

 

 

It was painful to hear Scout talk about himself like that, as if he were some big obnoxious problem Sniper had to lug around with him everywhere. He wasn't though and he never would be. To Sniper, Scout was one of the most important things in his entire life, someone who always managed to make him smile even in his darkest of days and a person who made him appreciate living the life he had. He was no bother, nothing Sniper wanted to get rid of, in fact, Scout was such an advantage in his life that he found himself wondering what he'd do without the runner around.

 

 

Whenever he watched him crack stupid jokes, pull lousy pranks or simply smile at him with the fondest of expressions, Sniper's entire day would be made.

 

 

Gently, he ran a soothing hand through Scout's hair before tracing the lines of his sharp jaw line and gently taking the runner's face into his hands. They made eye contact as a few more tears gathered in Scout's eyes, Sniper's thumbs wiping them away the second they started rolling down his cheeks. "I want ya to remember one thing and one thing only." The marksman spoke calmly. "'m an absolute idiot for wot I said to ya, love... but 'm still _your_ idiot. So whenever ya feel loike ya did earlier today, remoind yourself of that. I ain't goin' nowhere, 'cause I love ya so bloody much."

 

 

Finally Scout managed to smile up at him, brow still furrowed as he fought another wave of tears, meanwhile telling Sniper how much he loved him too with a shaky voice, an unsteady delivery and words that were merely a whisper. Seeing all those raw emotions written across Scout's face was so special, Sniper tried to remember every detail of his countenance as his thumbs yet again wiped a few tears away before the marksman leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Scout's lips.

 

 

He gathered him in his arms, slightly smiling as he nuzzled the runner's hair and silently loving this beautiful moment where Sniper was yet again _the_ person with whom Scout could be himself, where he would feel save _and_ loved.

 

 

Scout's personal issues might have rooted deeper into his heart than the both of them could fathom. _Ugly_ scars from a time long gone, but... that was nothing they couldn't manage. Sniper _knew_ that.

 

\--       

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Promise I'm still working on Personal Project, but I'm yet again faced with a long ass week with a looooot of school work so have this garbage while I'm away
> 
> I wrote the first chapter like... nine months ago, so I'm sorry if there's a big difference in the writing style between chapter one and two, I hope it isn't a bother


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